Asa or Asher?

[GiveMeVegemite]

Thoughts please!

My husband and I like both these names for our soon-to-be-son.

I have a slight preference towards Asher and he likes Asa a bit better....

I like Asa, DS was nearly Aesir but I discounted it when he was born as I thought he would need to be blonde for a Norse name. Imagine my disappointment when his jet black hair fell out at 6 months and was replaced by sandy blonde.

My ds is Asher. I love both names, but Asa sounds too much like dd's name (Ava), and also I prefer the nn Ash to the nn Ace, which reminds me of Red Dwarf for some unknown reason! You can't go wrong either way though. I get lots of compliments about ds's name, especially from the teenagers I teach, who all think it is "really cool".

Asa. An Asa passes the train driver/lawyer/high court judge test. My DS has a friend called Asa and he's lovely so maybe that's why I'm fond of it

Asha. I would be singing Brimful of Asha in my head though.
With Asa is that pronounced like Asia of like Acer the Japanese maple?

How about Ash as a compromise?

Love, love, love Asher. Don't like Asa.

I adore the name Asa mewkins its pronounced Ay sah. It's on my list should I have a boy. It makes me think of Asa Butterfield who played the boy in the striped pyjamas. Asher sounds like someone sneezing.

My friend Asa is a postman. Lovely name!

Asher

Mewkins, Asha is the feminine spelling. The boys' name is spelt with an "er" ending.

Seems pretty evenly divided! I must admit I do liken the nickname Ash better than Ace though!

Asa is pronounced Aye-suh

I would not have known how to pronounce Asa and I wouldn't have known if it were a boys or girls name. It sounds nice though.

I perceive them very differently, despite sounding similar. Asa does indeed pass the high court judge test, Asher does not (but who knows in forty years time). Asher sounds trendy and urban, Asa classic and self-possessed.

Geeze, so interesting how people perceive names.

I thought Asa was pronounced Ass-a, which I obviously wasnt keen on, but once my husband told me the pronunciation I really liked it too.

I am pretty torn still though!

I would pronounce it Acer

bowler cool, that's the right pronunciation.

Agree that in some areas Asher is likely to lead people to form some instant opinions - also, in my area Asher would also probably be a girl.

Asa, on the other hand, is too rare for prejudices and too short to sound snooty, plus Ace is an awesome nickname!

Asher is less complicated than Asa imo as the pronunciation is obvious and it's more obviously male.
Åsa (accent on the a) is a fairly common girls name in Scandinavia.

That's an accent on the first a! And the pronunciation is totally different to Asa

For me it's about sound and associations. Asa - Asa Briggs, eminent historian. Asher - Asher D, rapper turned actor (really called Ashley).

I've only heard of anyone called Asher in the last 20 years, though it's biblical isn't it. I thought it might have superseded Ashley, as a nn and trendier version, also as Ashley's become more feminine.

We are not religious, but they are actually both names from the bible! Asher was the 8th son of Jacob and Asa was the king of Judah.
Both names were very prominent in the 19th century, especially with the puritans and kind of lost popularity towards the start if the 20th century apparently.

Thank goodness someone else mentioned Asa Briggs Lottie! I was starting to think I was the only one to have that association, great name, go with Asa!

Asa!